Book Group

Chairman: Nick Maufe
Nickmaufe@gmail.com

Asst. Chairmen – Larry McEwen, Roger Lamm

The SIRs Book Group is a discussion group for SIRS members who are interested in increasing their reading enjoyment by selecting and reading a book a month and meeting to discuss them. For each book, one Group member presents additional research on the author and literary and academic criticisms. Discussions are invariably energetic and stimulating and frequently generate broader ideas that interest the group.

We meet monthly, alternating fiction and non-fiction books. Attendance is usually around 16 which works well for our venue in the back room at Round Table Pizza.

To get the year going the members submit their suggestions for books during November and December and then we vote on 5/6 fiction and 5/6 non-fiction books for the year in our January meeting. The selection reflects the extremely varied interests within the group and exposes many of us to books we would never have otherwise read.

For 2018 we will be reading the following books:

Book discussion date

Fiction/

Non

Author

Title

Researcher

February

NF

Tim Marshall

Prisoners of Geography

Ian Dunn

March

F

John Del Vecchio

The 13th Valley

Randy Nelson

April

NF

Walter Isaacson

Leonardo Da Vinci

Phil Trapp

May

F

Steven Pressfield

Gates of Fire

Steve Tiller

June

NF

Malcolm Vance

The Plot to Hack America

Bill Espey

July

F

Mark Sullivan

Beneath a scarlet sky

Larry McEwen

August

NF

Albert Hourani

A History of the Arab Peoples

Nat Bitton

September

F

Amor Towles

Gentleman in Moscow

Tom Doll

October

NF

Jack Weatherford

Genghis Khan

Burt Baker

November

F

Jennifer Egan

Manhattan Beach

Nick Maufe

December

NF

Jane Mayer

Dark Money

Steve Schramm

January 2019

no book (selecting 2019 books)

The Book Group meets the first Tuesday of the month at 10:30 a.m. at Round Table Pizza on Treat blvd. Email me at nickmaufe@gmail.com if you are interested in joining us.

Nick Maufe, Chairman

dw ================= 2017 ====================================

The SIRs Book Group is a discussion group for SIRS members who are interested in increasing their reading enjoyment by selecting and reading a book a month and meeting to discuss them. For each book one Group member presents additional research on the author and literary and academic criticisms. Discussions are invariably energetic and stimulating and frequently generate broader ideas that interest the group.

We meet monthly, alternating fiction and non-fiction books. Attendance is usually around 15 which works well for our venue in the back room at Round Table Pizza in Pleasant Hill.

To get the year going the members submit their suggestions for books during November and December (for 2017 this was about 70 books) and then we vote on 5/6 fiction and 5/6 non-fiction books for the year in our January meeting. The selection reflects the extremely varied interests within the group and exposes many of us to books we would never have otherwise read.

For 2017 we are reading the following books:

Book discussion date

Fiction/Non

Author

Title

February

F

Alan Furst

Night Soldiers

March

NF

Joby Warrick

Black Flag:The Rise of ISIS

April

F

Anton Myrer

Once an Eagle

May

NF

Nancy Isenberg

White Trash

June

F

Erich Maria Remarque

All Quiet on the Western Front

July

NF

JD Vance

Hillbilly Elegy

August

F

John Grisham

Gray Mountain

September

NF

James Bradley

The China Mirage

October

F

Annie Proulx

Bark Skins

November

NF

Daniel James Brown

Boys in the Boat

December

F

Martin Cruz Smith

Wolves Eat Dogs

January 2018

no book (selecting 2018 books)

On September 5, 2017, the SIR book group members met and discussed The China Mirage by James Bradley. This book explored the delusions of the US foreign policy makeup in Asia. Also, the rational behind the Bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Vietnam War was exposed. Possibly a US mistake. ..

On Tuesday, October 3, 2017, SIR book group members will meet and discuss Barkskins by Annie Proulx. This novel is about woodcutters and the associated industries within the time frame of the 17th century to 1960. Barkskins is an epic tale (700 pages) of the long term destruction of the world’s forests justified by man’s greed. Jim Kawal will be the reviewer.

We will meet at the Roundtable Pizza on Oak Park Blvd. in Pleasant Hill on Tuesday, October 3, at 10:30 am for a discussion of the Proulx’s book. Our brief meeting will be followed by lunch as a group.

Please contact Nick Maufe if you are interested in more information about the Book Group.

The Book Group meets the first Tuesday of the month at 10:30 a.m. at Round Table Pizza on Treat blvd. Email me at nickmaufe@gmail.com if you are interested in joining us.

Nick Maufe, Chairman

================= 2017 ====================================

The SIRs Book Group is a discussion group for SIRS members who are interested in increasing their reading enjoyment by selecting and reading a book a month and meeting to discuss them. For each book one Group member presents additional research on the author and literary and academic criticisms. Discussions are invariably energetic and stimulating and frequently generate broader ideas that interest the group.

We meet monthly, alternating fiction and non-fiction books. Attendance is usually around 15 which works well for our venue in the back room at Round Table Pizza in Pleasant Hill.

To get the year going the members submit their suggestions for books during November and December (for 2017 this was about 70 books) and then we vote on 5/6 fiction and 5/6 non-fiction books for the year in our January meeting. The selection reflects the extremely varied interests within the group and exposes many of us to books we would never have otherwise read.

For 2017 we are reading the following books:

Book discussion date

Fiction/Non

Author

Title

February

F

Alan Furst

Night Soldiers

March

NF

Joby Warrick

Black Flag:The Rise of ISIS

April

F

Anton Myrer

Once an Eagle

May

NF

Nancy Isenberg

White Trash

June

F

Erich Maria Remarque

All Quiet on the Western Front

July

NF

JD Vance

Hillbilly Elegy

August

F

John Grisham

Gray Mountain

September

NF

James Bradley

The China Mirage

October

F

Annie Proulx

Bark Skins

November

NF

Daniel James Brown

Boys in the Boat

December

F

Martin Cruz Smith

Wolves Eat Dogs

January 2018

no book (selecting 2018 books)

On September 5, 2017, the SIR book group members met and discussed The China Mirage by James Bradley. This book explored the delusions of the US foreign policy makeup in Asia. Also, the rational behind the Bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Vietnam War was exposed. Possibly a US mistake. ..

On Tuesday, October 3, 2017, SIR book group members will meet and discuss Barkskins by Annie Proulx. This novel is about woodcutters and the associated industries within the time frame of the 17th century to 1960. Barkskins is an epic tale (700 pages) of the long term destruction of the world’s forests justified by man’s greed. Jim Kawal will be the reviewer.

We will meet at the Roundtable Pizza on Oak Park Blvd. in Pleasant Hill on Tuesday, October 3, at 10:30 am for a discussion of the Proulx’s book. Our brief meeting will be followed by lunch as a group.

Please contact Nick Maufe if you are interested in more information about the Book Group.

Important messages and Activity menu in this column

Both the 1 & 2 column versions of our MAY 2018 HOTLINE newsletter are posted.

LEGAL NOTICE. Non-Responsibility Declaration: All activities arranged for or by, or sponsored by, Sons In Retirement, Incorporated, and its Branches are for the convenience and pleasure of the members and their guests who desire to participate. Sons In Retirement Inc. and its Branches do not assume any responsibility for the well-being or safety of the participants, or their property, in any matters pertaining to said activities.

Other important, but repetitive, legal verbiage (Attendance Rules etc) has been moved from Hotline to a new page under 'About Branch 8' in the HORIZONTAL menu .